Baron was going to hit the open market. Other teams were excited. Obviously our side was willing to do what needed to be done to keep him around. He's still a Vol. Doesn't that tell you that the evaluators and money guys think there's more to him than posters on VN think?
Baron made a move and it worked for him. This is the age of player leverage. Some kids don't have it and they are screwing themselves. Some realize when they have it and they make a move that works. He is playing the system the way that it is set up to play now, and he made it work for him.
"Oh but he's terrible!" - Ok, so all the more reason for him to get whatever he can now, if he's not going to have a long career...
"300k is too much money!" - This is all brand new. We don't know what is too much, we don't know what is too little. Like all things, the market will correct itself, or outside influences will correct the market for everyone (as is tradition). The bigger story here is that we're throwing around 300k.
"We should have let him walk! I don't negotiate with terrorists!" - Sir, this is football.
When there's a cap on everyone, and the Bamas and Georgias are right back to sliding money under the table above whatever the cap is, you'll be begging for us to be able to pay whatever we want.